Escaped Inmate Nabbed

Published June 20th, 2007

By Dan Breitwieser, WCJB TV 20 News.

37-year-old David Daher was scheduled to be released on July 7th after an 8-month sentence for a drug-related conviction. But he only got about 24 hours of freedom because he was caught this afternoon in Georgia. Now he's looking at an extra 15 years.

The Marion County Work Farm looks empty on a rainy day. But yesterday, it wasn't as full as it was supposed to be when Daher walked off sometime after the lunchtime head count.

"It's always a relief to catch the suspect and get them off the street," say Sue Livoti with the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Livoti says Daher called his girlfriend Monday, giving her directions to the work farm and telling her to bring a change of clothes. Detectives say 47-year-old Tamara Retzloff borrowed a car and did as he told, picking him up next door at the Skate Mania building.

"He did state he was concerned about charges pending in Georgia," says Livoti. "So that's the only reason we could think of that he would decide to try and leave."

Livoti adds investigators called the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office this morning. Detectives there knew the couple. They found Retzloff first, who said she dropped Daher off at his mother's. Georgia deputies found him hiding in the woods a little later.

Livoti says it's been more than a year since the last escape. But she says because of this, the farm will be doing head counts more than just at lunch and before the return ride to the jail.

"They are all low-risk misdemeanor charges," says Livoti. "Somebody we feel that we can trust, hence the term trustees."

Livoti says those pending charges Daher was so worried about weren't serious enough to merit extradition so as long as he didn't go back to Valdosta, he wouldn't have to face them. Now, he could serve 15 years for escaping, plus the Georgia charges.

Retzloff faces up to five years for helping. Livoti says a judge will have to decide where to send them to trial first.